Story [How To Train Your Dragon] Trial By Fire -- THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS HONOR!

Yeah, I figured it's about time he got a little taste of what's coming to him.

I think they chose the Gronkle because it was big enough to actually hunt, but small enough to lure away. I don't think their plan would have worked for a Monstrous Nightmare. LOL!

Thanks to the Capital One credit card for the idea! LOL. Doing the research, I found a map of the world during the time of the movie. They way the vikings marked off the Roman territory definetly gives you a feeling of a complete hatred towards Romans. I figured someone should make mention of it.

Chapter 12: Suspicion

Bonetoss and Snakewhisp made it back to the field of dragons. Without being seen by the beasts, they had arrived at the spot where they had slept overnight. With their job done, they could pack up and head back to the village. Confident that they were going to get praised for their work, they began to pack up their belongings and try to erase all evidence of their presence there.

?So, you think that boy embarrassed himself out there?? Snakewhisp grinned.

?That boy's a walking menace. There's no way he could've killed the Shadow Lord Dragon.?

?What do you think Wolfbane has planned with this mythical dragon??

Bonetoss shrugged. ?I?m sure he wants to get rid of Ivar so he can have the glory of killing it. We?ve all been living underneath Ivar?s shadow for too long.?

The two Vikings chuckled, but as they finished their laugh, they were greeted with the sound of growling. Both Vikings froze in place and cautiously looked up. Standing in front of them was a Night Fury. The dragon?s eyes were full of rage, as bared his teeth to confirm his anger.

?Th-th-that?s the night fury!?

?He looks pretty mad,? Bonetoss replied.

?Maybe if you carefully reach for the spear?? he pointed to the spear, laying up against a treeto their right, with his eyes.?

?Me? How about you get that spear! I?m closer to the dragon than you; he?ll rip my arm off!?

?And your arm?s more important than mine?? Snakewhisp responded.

Toothless roared, shaking his head as means to intimidate the Vikings. It worked; Bonetoss made a dash for the spear out of panic. The dragon leaped, and landed between the Viking and the weapon. He made it clear to the two Vikings that they had made a wrong decision going for that weapon. He swung his head violently like a wild, untamed beast ready for a fight.

?Forget this, I?m running!? Snakewhisp replied, running in the opposite direction of the dragon. Bonetoss was in full agreement, and join his friend, heading back to the village.

Toothless continued to romp around until he was certain the Vikings were not going to come back. Once he was convinced, Toothless snorted as he shook his head; his job of protecting the dragons was done for now.

* * * *

Ivar was too furious to talk with anyone. Even from the shop, he could still feel his rage radiating into Berk?s atmosphere. Hiccup was too scared to leave the shop to find out if the word of what had happened had spread through the village, yet. He took this time alone to look at his invention. If Ivar?s Vikings had not tried to fire the weapon, he would have had an easier time figuring out what exactly went wrong with it.

He backtracked in its original assembly order, to better keep track of what worked and what did not. Perhaps he could discover what he had missed. As he slowly disassembled the crossbow, he could not find any flaws with his logic. ?I don?t get it, what went wrong?? He said out of frustration.

He began to look at the individual pieces and fidgeted with each moving piece. When it came to the hook that was supposed to grab and stretch the string, he noticed that there was no coil resistance.

?Hmm, that?s strange.?

He dissected that piece of the crossbow, and saw that the hook was deformed and installed completely wrong. The problem was so obvious; there was no way he could have made this kind of mistake. There could be no doubt that someone else had tampered with the crossbow overnight.

?So, I heard about the catastrophe this morning,? Bitwolf entered the shop at the most inopportune time.

?Well, you know how it is; stories always manage to get distorted the more times it gets told.? Hiccup replied.

?Sometimes, but this is you, we?re talking about. Is there really ever a need to exaggerate your stories??

Hiccup frowned, trying to keep himself from getting angry. ?What's your problem? Have I offended your family honor or something??

?Not at all, I just should've known better than to trust your ability to make an invention that works.?

?My crossbow worked just fine,? he said defensively. He had to

?Forget this, I?m running!? Snakewhisp replied, running in the opposite direction of the dragon. Bonetoss was in full agreement, and join his friend, heading back to the village.

Behold the 'brave' dragon hunters


I completely understand Toothless' reaction and I'm happy Hiccup got through to him - their friendship is so great. I'm also glad that Hiccup figured out that Bitwolf had temperd with the crossbow - he's right to be suspicious.

Yep, they're lucky to escape the fury of a Night Fury.

?Don?t let him get to you, Hiccup. He has no idea what he?s talking about. You're as loyal as they come.?

And Gobber deserves an award for this moment of accurate confidence building. Seriously.


Good update.

URGENT NOTE!!!! PLEASE READ!!!

There will be no updates for this story this week. We were hit by a tornado!

My family and I are fine, our home is surprisingly unharmed, but we are out of power, and may be out of power for the rest of the week. I am currently in a hotel. I do not have access to my story to continue.

You can see the damage if you go to the WRAL website.

It was a EF3 tornado, with winds over 160 miles and a quarter mile in size. 22 are confirmed dead and 130 are injured. It remained on the ground for over and hour and traveled over 60 miles. Lowes Hardware, which is about five miles from me is nothing more than scrap now. The tornado came less than a quarter mile from our hourse. We could see the tornado if we were able to stand outside of our house. There was a huge horse farm a quarter of a mile away from us, most of the horses and cows were killed.

I will continue to write this story as soon as power is restored, and everything returns to normal. I am sorry for the delay.

Wow, mrjop, how terrible!

I'm glad to hear that you and your family are safe and that your house was spared.

I hope everything returns to normal soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding and prayers. My power is on, and things are coming back to normal. This Sunday, Chapter three will be posted baring any other tricks that mother nature wants to play.

I learned that a total of 24 twisters touched down all throughout NC during this story. It is being labeled the worst tornado outbreak in North Carolina history.

Here is a picture of my hardware store: Lowes Hardware. I was not there during the storm, and I am so glad that I wasn't. This is about four to five miles from my house. The twister actually came withing a quarter mile from directly hitting us. You can see where the twister made direct contact with the store and ripped through it and made its way up to the upper right corner. This was the beginning of the hour long trek of this particular twister.

There were over a hundred people in the store at the time of impact. None were critically injured, thanks to the brave employees and manager who brought the people to the back of the store, towards the left of the picture.

Here is a YouTube Video of the damage.

Anyway, I'll be back this Sunday with a new chapter.

The tornadoes in North Carolina actually made last nights news, here in Portugal. They showed some impressive images and I think your hardware store was among them.

Looking forward to the next update, but take you time in getting everything back in order.

Chapter 13: Outcast Again

It seemed Odin and the gods had it out against him. Stoick could not comprehend what he could have done to upset the gods. He was putting everything on the line to protect the dragons, and everything that can go wrong, was. Hiccup?s invention was nothing short of a disaster. Ivar was so angry, that he had not said a word to him or his son. This was yet another one of Hiccup?s messes that he was going to have to find a way to clean up.

As the sun was beginning to set, the temperature quickly dropped. The time had come to put some wood into the fire pit in the center of the room and get a fire going. As he did, the front door opened and Gobber came hobbling into the hut. ?Ah, good, I see that you?re in as grumpy of a mood as ever.?

?Aye, you can say that,? Stoick replied with a sigh. ?I just don?t know what to do; Hiccup is going to be the death of me. This Shadow Lord hunt was a disaster of epic proportions.?

?I heard. I also heard that Wolfbane got a good wallop in the face, hehehe!? Gobber chuckled just imagining the hilarious sight. "If you asked me, it could not have happened to a better Viking."

?Hiccup?s clumsiness keeps getting in the way and threatens to expose everything. I just don?t know what to do with the boy.?

?How about supporting the lad? That seems like a good place to start.?

?What??

?The boy could really use some more moral support right about now. He seems to think that he?s all alone.?

?I've not asked much more from the boy than what he should already want to do. I?m doing my best in keeping those dragons alive; what else can I possibly do??

?Perhaps you should stand up to Ivar when it comes to Hiccup. You do tend to excessively cower underneath him. You treat him more like a god than a Viking.?

?Do you realize what you are saying?? Stoick replied, not believing what he was hearing from his friend?s mouth. ?Are you suggesting that I forsake the Viking code? That can start a war between our two tribes; that?s the last thing we need.?

?I?m not talking about starting a revolt, I?m talking about convincing him that these beasts can be good for more than just hunting. Let Hiccup show him what he and his Night Fury can really do.?

?Ivar will kill that dragon the moment he lays his eyes on it.?

?Now that?s just it,? Gobber pointed his prosthetic hand towards his friend. He currently had his hammer attachment connected to his arm. ?Instead of protecting your son, you?re willing to let Ivar have his way with the boy. Your a Viking Chief, perhaps you should start acting like one. I think Hiccup isright about telling Ivar the truth.?

?Hmm,? Stoick hummed, giving time for Gobber?s words to sink in. Months ago, his eyes had been open to the truth that he really did not listen to his son. Hiccup had tried to tell him about Toothless and his feelings about killing dragons, but Stoick had been too stubborn to listen. He would like to believe that over the past few months, he had made some strides to listen to his son more. Perhaps Ivar had him so far on edge that he had reverted to his old self. Perahaps he should listen to his son and tell Ivar the truth.

?At least give it some thought.?

* * * *

On the way back to the village, his stomach had begun to demand some food. He had pretty much skipped all the meals today, and now his body was protesting. He decided to get some food, and perhaps get his mind off of his troubles for a little while when he encountered Tuffnut and Snotlout. At first, it looked like they were going to walk right by, but when they saw him, they began to laugh to themselves.

?What?? The old, familiar feeling of being the town?s outcast began to reintroduce itself to Hiccup.

?Your attempt to blame your mishap on Bitwolf is a joke,? Snotlout chuckled.

?Yeah,? Tuffnut agreed. ?Some friend you are. All Bitwolf has done was to cover for you to help your situation with Ivar, and you try to pass the blame onto him? Not good.?

The two young Vikings walked off. Hiccup found himself frozen where he was. Fishlegs had opened his mouth, and now all of hi

Looks like Bitwolf's plan is working

At least Stoick is taking Hiccup's side in this - thank you, Gobber.


Lets hope things keep improving on your end, MrJop, great update.

for the tornado-induced weirdness... that'd distract everybody.

As for the update: I find it interesting how Hiccup isn't telling him everything because his friends just did THAT to him...


Good update.

Thanks. I hope to get back to a good writing pace real soon.

Thanks, I have a feeling that decision of Hiccups is going to come back and haunt him.

Chapter 14: Secret Exposed

Sitting up on the fire tower, the young Vikings had gathered around to roast fish over the fire pit. The only one not present was Hiccup, but no one seemed to even notice. They were all engrossed in the crazy tales of Bitwolf's adventures. All of them were amazed that someone so young could already have so many great stories to tell.

As the night grew late, the Vikings slowly dispersed one-by-one. The last two remaining Vikings were Bitwolf and Astrid. Bitwolf had waited patiently for the others to leave, and prayed that he could keep Astrid fascinated long enough to stay until everyone else had left. It appeared that he had successfully accomplished his goal. Now, it was time to lay the groundwork for his task at hand. ?I've got to make a confession, but you can?t tell anyone. Promise me that you won?t kill me or tell anyone what I'm about to tell you.?

?You can trust me,? Astrid assured him.

?Well, the truth is that my father is not as hardcore as Ivar. He doesn't share much in common with him at all, as a matter of fact. Ivar kills any dragon that he comes across, and hogs all the glory. He refuses to share any of the dragon kills with any of his Vikings, and many Vikings in our tribe are fed up with it.?

?Okay,? Astrid was waiting for the punch line. ?I can imagine he can come off that way.?

?The thing is, my father is opposed to killing dragons at all. He believes that the dragons are much more useful as workers or partners. As you can imagine, Ivar is not open to the idea.?

?Really?? Astrid was not sure what to make of this. If he was telling the truth, he and his father could be close alleys. Maybe his father could help Hiccup stand up to Ivar.

?My father wants to stop Ivar from killing the Shadow Lord, but that means we need to find the dragon first. I have another confession; my father and I know about Hiccup and the dragons.?

?I-I don?t know what you?re talking about,? Astrid was caught off guard by that last confession. If this was a test to try to expose the truth from her, then she had nearly fallen for it. She had been expecting a revelation of this magnitude.

?It?s okay, Astrid, It?s the truth. We know about Berk?s relationship with the dragons. My father has even found the field where you're hiding the dragons. He hasn't told Ivar any of this. He needs Hiccup?s help in protecting the Shadow Lord. Hiccup?s ability with the dragons is unlike anything we thought possible.?

The look in his face told her that he was telling the truth; he probably did know where the dragons were. It was clear that he shared his father?s passion to find the Shadow Lord dragon before Ivar. This was exactly what Hiccup needed; a new alley with some authority behind him. With Wolfbane?s help, they can keep Ivar from killing any more dragons.

?I believe you,? Astrid said before she even realized those words had come out of her mouth. ?I don?t know where Hiccup is right now, but have you ever flown on dragons??

?No. we?ve never been able to get that friendly them.?

?Perhaps we should get you better acquainted with our dragons before we take this up with Hiccup. Hiccup has this crazy notion that you sabotaged his weapon. We need to get him to trust you first."

?How about you; do you trust me?? Bitwolf asked.

?Yes, I trust you,? Astrid replied, almost without hesitation, as her face became flushed.

* * * *

At the crack of dawn, Hiccup was up and out to visit with Toothless and the dragons. If his father kept his promise, by the end of the night, all of these dragons would be back at the village. For the first time in a long time, he felt optimistic. That was why he wanted to start his day off visiting Toothless. He wanted to assure him that this madness was coming to an end.

There was still a chill in the air as the sun started to melt the morning frost away. The cold did not bother Hiccup much; he was too excited to be bothered by it. He just enjoyed the silence and the peace from his hectic life as he scratched Toothless? neck. However, his moment of peace came to a startling end

Bitwolf is playing his game excellently. Everybody is falling for it.

But he let his face drop with Hiccup, which means not all is lost, although it will be hard for Hiccup to make people see the real Bitwolf. Good luck Hiccup!

Great update.

Wondering where you're going with this...


Good update.

Thanks for sticking around! We may be down to two readers, but your not going to regret. We're finally coming to the climax, and I promise you, this is going to get extremely exciting. I'm already getting ready for comments on the other sights demanding me to speed up, that they can't wait a week to see what happens.

On another note, I have posted a preview of what I have in store for HTTYD: The Outcast Lands. You can find it in the NSWFF resources under the bunny plots and trailers thread. The next story is going to going to be slightly more darker, and very exciting.

You won't have to wait much longer. We're now starting to enter the climax. This story is about to get very wild!

Chapter 15: Ivar?s Rage

Hiccup could not find his father anywhere, so for the lack of any other ideas on what to do next, he decided to go home. He figured it was better to be out of sight until he had a chance to talk to his father. He could see this all playing out in a thousand different ways; not one of them ended well for him.

He was doing laps around the fire pit, consumed in his thoughts and despair. The idea of running away had crossed his mind several times. He could run away with Toothless, and then his dragon would be safe from Ivar?s wrath. That idea concerned him, however. Would he be able to survive out on his own, alone, with only Toothless by his side?

A decision had to be made quickly, so he had to prioritize what was important. The most important thing was to protect Toothless. He had no clue what he would do if Toothless was killed. Perhaps running away was the only option left to him, but what about Astrid? Could he just leave her like that?

His thoughts were interrupted when the door was thrown open so violently, that Hiccup jumped, feeling as if his heart was about jump out of his throat. Storming inside was Astrid, who?s fury radiated from her very presence. Her face was red, and her teeth clenched. ?There you are!?

?Astrid!? This was the first encounter he feared; it was probably the one he feared the most.

?What were you thinking? How could you just abandon us like that? Bitwolf is completely new to flying; you had no right to disappear like that.?

?Astrid, Bitwolf is no good. He's??

?Will you cut it out, already!? She screamed. She stormed towards him with such force, that Hiccup was afraid for his life. She shoved him harder than she had ever done before. ?Are you really that petty and jealous??

?Listen to me!? Hiccup said out of frustration. ?He's not who you think he is. He?s playing you; he?s playing everyone! He told me that you kissed him!?

?You?re pathetic, you know that?? Astrid?s tone took a more somber tone. If he didn?t know better, he would of thought that she was emotionally hurt by what he had just said. ?You have to make up lies, because you can?t get over your jealousy.?

?Astrid, I??

Astrid raised a fist to punch his lights out, causing Hiccup to flinch. She stopped herself, but the intensity of her fist was enough to tell Hiccup that she really wanted to cause him bodily harm. ?It?s over between us,? She said barely above a whisper.

?But??

Astrid left more solemnly than the way she came in. Not bothering to close the door behind her, the moment she stepped outside, she ran as fast and far away from the hut as humanly possible. Hiccup stood motionlessly where he was; shock had completely overwhelmed all of his senses.

* * * *

Wolfbane could not have been more proud of his son. He had done his job perfectly, and discovered Hiccup?s secret in befriending the dragons. Now, the rest was up to him. After a nice long discussion with Ivar about how to deal with Stoick and his son after the failed expedition, he slyly planted the idea that they were intentionally hindering his quest. He did not know about Berk?s dragons, yet; that would come after his quest, here, was complete. He got permission to find evidence against Stoick. The best evidence was to be able to locate the Shadow Lord.

Wolfbane brought with him one of his most trusted allies among the Vikings from his village. Not all the Vikings that came to Berk were in league with him, but those, that were not, would perish along with all the Vikings of Berk. The fool, Ivar, had no idea what was about to befall him. Bitwolf did a great job distracting Hiccup, and making him think that he was only interested in winning her heart. Having the boy worry about that, had kept him distracted from the real plot at hand.

Searching the Island, he had a pretty good idea where the dragon may be hiding. If he was a giant predator, like the Shadow Lord, he would hide as far away from the village as possible. Based on the reaction that Berk had to the news about the existence of the dragon, he had to assume that the dra

?It?s over between us,? She said barely above a whisper.




I can get you, both the Night Fury and the boy. I can get you an entire village of Vikings for you to feed upon. Spare my life, and partner with me, and you will have more food than you can ever imagine. Together, we can take down the Night Fury, and rule the Islands!

Yeah! And if all else fails the Shadow Lord can always eat Wolfbane.
BTW, isn?t Wolfane just a little bit delusional, here?


?Ivar knows everything. He knows about the dragons, and your Night Fury. He knows that we?ve been lying to him since the moment he arrived.?

Oh-ho!


?Rumors have it that Wolfbane was the one who discovered the dragons and told Ivar. How he found out, no one knows.?

?Wolfbane?? No, it couldn?t be true! Bitwolf said that his father wanted to save the dragons from Ivar. Why would he lie to her like this? Why would he and his father tell Ivar everything? ?Bitwolf!? she growled under her breath. He had betrayed her and her friends.

Ah-ha! A little light has lit up in Astrid?s head.
Someone is feeling very very bad with herself now.

I've been saying not a lot because I'm waiting to see where you take us with that epiphany of Astrid's. And poor Hiccup, the victim of misunderstanding. Ouch.

Loved update. Would like some more.

Aren't all the power hungry villains?

I would really hate to be Bitwolf for the rest of the story.

The tables are about to be turned!

More coming this weekend! We're now at the climax.

Chapter 16: Berk Under Siege

Hiccup was stuck in this hut, with no way to escape. The windows were too small for him to climb out of, and the door was closely guarded by at least two Vikings. After thoroughly searching the hut, he determined that there was no way out of this hut. All he could do is sit and dread about being taken away from Berk and even more importantly, Toothless. He thought about calling out for help through one of the windows. Toothless would hear and help him escape, but that would be too dangerous for the Night Fury. Ivar?s Vikings would probably kill him the moment he stepped foot into the village.

He let out a sigh as he sat on the floor directly in front of the door. He could not help but feel like he let everyone down. Astrid hated him, his friends thought he was crazy, and his father?who knows what he was thinking, right now. Perhaps it would be better for everyone if he was gone.

While sitting on the floor, soaking in depression, he could not help but overhear the two Vikings outside the door. Were they even aware that he could hear them? With nothing better to do, he just sat there and listened to what they were saying.

?So this is it!? Bonetoss said. ?Wolfbane is making his move!?

?It looks that way. We?re finally going to get out from underneath Ivar?s rule. One thing is for sure; I won?t miss him when he?s dead.?

?Dead?? Hiccup mumbled to himself. Was this what all of this insanity was about?

?Quite, you idiot!? Bonetoss scowled. ?The boy might be able to hear you.?

?Who cares, the kid is locked up inside with nowhere to go. Soon, Ivar and Stoick the Vast will be gone, and Wolfbane will have his dragon. Things can't only get better for us.?

Hiccup jumped to his feet. ?That?s what this is about?? He said under his breath. Wolfbane wanted a dragon of his own, and the dragon he wanted was the Shadow Lord. Worse yet, even, was that together, they were going to kill the whole hunting party, including his father. For Bitwolf, this had nothing to do with stealing Astrid away from him; he was helping his father get the information he needed to force the Shadow Lord to do his bidding. The dragon alone, was evil, but if the dragon was willing to partner with Wolfbane, then they would indeed be an unstoppable duo.

He could not allow this to happen! Hiccup was determined to save his father and stop Wolfbane and the Shadow Lord. He jumped to his feet and pounded on the door. ?Let me out of here!?

?Silence, brat!? Bonetoss snapped, pounding on the door so hard, that it caused Hiccup to stagger backwards.

Hiccup began to research the hut for something he could use to break himself out. ?I've got to warn the others! Come on, there's got to be something in here I can use!?

* * * *

It did not take the Vikings long to get two ships ready to sail for the dragon hunt. A vast array of weapons, from the blacksmith shop, were loaded onto the ships and now the Vikings were filing on board.

Stoick had his hammer in his hand, but he had no intentions of using it, unless the dragon came after him. He was not going to help Ivar hunt this beast. He may no longer be Viking chief, but he was not going to sulk in the shame that Ivar had bestowed upon him.

As he found his spot on one of the ships, he could not help but think of Hiccup. How could he had let this happen. Hiccup had been right all along, and none of this would be happening if he had not acted so cowardly towards Ivar. Yes, rebelling against a legendary Viking chief was considered a capital offense according to the Viking code, but the problem was, that the Viking code was outdated. All of it should have changed when they accepted dragons among them. A new Viking code should have been created, and if only he had known that before now, he would not be in this predicament. He had lost his wife, and now the last of his family was going to be taken away, unless he could find a way to change Ivar?s mind.

Ivar was the last to get onboard. ?Set sail for the far side of the Island.? He commanded.

Upon that command, the two ships left the

REBELLION TIME

I really liked the way Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotloud got rid of the guards and freed Hiccup.
I bet Hiccup was happy to see them.

It's totally ON, now, isn't it? Go Berk vikings! Go!


Good update.